Staring Daggers

Seven years after getting engaged to Leander Beaumont, he inherits everything that once belonged to his late brother—including his brother's wife, Dinah Fowler. Every time Leander sleeps with Dinah, he holds me afterward and whispers, "Jenny, just wait a little longer. We can finally have our wedding once Dinah gets pregnant." It's the only condition the Beaumont family, Westrael’s most powerful mafia clan, sets for Leander to become the next Don. In just half a year after returning home, Leander visits Dinah's room 59 times. He starts from once a month... to nearly every single day. Finally, after the 60th time I watch him leave Dinah's room, the "good news" comes. Dinah is pregnant. And along with it, an announcement—the Beaumont family declares Leander and Dinah are getting married. "Mamma, is someone getting married?" my young son asks, staring at the house now lavishly decorated by a wedding company. I quietly gather him into my arms, my voice cold as I say, "Yes, sweetheart. Your father is marrying the woman he loves. It's time for us to leave." What Leander doesn't know is that the Bellini family, my family, has risen to become a mafia power strong enough to rival the Beaumonts. And me? I'm Jenny Bellini, the most beloved daughter of the Bellini family. I will never be trapped by marriage again.

"I can't taste my lips... Could you do it for me?" Laira Alastair become more seductive as she swayed her hips and danced to the beat of boisterous music while staring at the most handsome male specimen she'd ever seen - her unknown fiancee. She was the newest member of La Tigra; a place where all your kinky desires become reality. To prevent the bankruptcy of their family business, she had to marry their business partner's son. But marrying someone she doesn't know and love wasn't her cup of tea. She did the 'Plan B's, and that was to auction herself into bidding held at La Tigra every first of the month. *** With his dark as night eyes, to die for his devilish smile and gorgeous body, Matt Theodore 'Matteo' Vitale, had to marry a woman chosen by his family. But a woman wearing a printed tiger dress and mask got his attention. She was the most expensive woman auctioned at La Tigra's Hotel owned by one of his friends. Without blinking his eyes, he bought that tigress to be his future mistress. What if he finds out that the woman he bought at La Tigra was his unknown fiancée and doesn't do marriage for convenience? Do his devilish smile and gorgeous body can tame the wild tigress hearts roaming around the city?

“Don't tell me you have forgotten what happened last night?” she asked as she moved closer to the bed with a flirtatious smirk. “We had a good time together. Last night was fun.” She leaned close to him, her eyes staring deep into his black orbs. Being in this close proximity with him, her heart was beating, but she won't show how nervous she was. The white towel she was wearing reveals the top of her breast, and Richard's eyes flickered towards it. He gulped down as he found himself drawn to her. Their proximity made him feel an internal heat within him. Her lips are so tempting. He has never felt this way for any woman for the past five years. Who the fuck is she? “It seems you want more of my sweet body, Mr. Presley. Last night wasn't enough, was it?” she said with a sexy smile. She could see the effect she had on him and it kind of made her relaxed. Richard was snapped out of his lustful illusion by her words. What did he just hear her say? Did something happen last night?  …. After the tragedy that befell Annabelle because of the Presley family, she returned for revenge. For her revenge to be successful, she must make her cold hearted ex husband marry her and also make him fall in love with her. Will she succeed with her plan?

''After a few seconds of them staring at one another, Dante finally spoke. But his voice had changed; it was breathless and soft, echoing with a sweetness that Nate could have never imagined existed within him. With the knife left on his palm for Nate to grab, he cooed sheepishly, "Can you...tease me...with this?" Nate Kennedy was devastated when his parents announced their moving overseas. As for him, he was forced to move to a new city, get an apartment near his aunt and enroll in a brand new school. It all started going left when he encountered an assassin named Dante Hercules known not only in their city, but across the entire territory. But Nate didn't know he was an assassin when NAte threatened to kill him after Dante had laid a hand on his aunt. Neither did he know that Dante was into submissive sexual pleasure, relished being dominated violently and carelessly. He had been looking for someone for years and years, until now; he found Nate Kennedy. That is the deal; Nate must keep Dante sexually satisfied. If he fails, he dies, without any remorse. But that was what he thought in the beginning; what happens when emotions start to get involved? When one falls in love with the other? When the dangerous lifestyle of Dante puts Nate's life in jeopardy, which he never thought he would care for?

18+ Dante woke up from a three-year coma to see a stuttering woman beside his bed, and worse was that his mother called her his new wife. From the moment his eyes opened to see her big blue eyes staring at him, he despised her and made immediate arrangements to divorce her, but when his mother threatened to give his assets to charity if he couldn't settle for the marriage, he to comply by setting up a whole new contract that she either accepts to play by his rules or she leaves the marriage with nothing. Azalea never wanted to get married to Dante, but she had to accept her fate when she found out that her fiance was set to marry her stepsister. They'd been cheating behind her back and the cruelty of the betrayal made her comply with her father's arrangement for her to be exchanged to save their drowning empire. In a twist of event, the man that had been sleeping for three years woke up the day she arrived at Drummond's mansion and his instant hatred for her was palpable, and the realization that she would either live the rest of her life as his slave, be sent back to the arms of her unwelcoming family or get thrown into the streets hit her... For all the women who love a man who gives them guns instead of flowers, let's read together

Before the pack's Winter Solstice festival, I was given a Moonwater Mirror, forged from the waters of the Moon Goddess Spring. But the face staring back at me wasn't my own. It was my face, but younger. The girl I was eight years ago. Her eyes were bright with a joy I hadn't felt in years. When she realized I was from her future, she practically vibrated with excitement. "Our fated mate, Alpha Owen, he confessed today! He's going to plant moonflowers around the lake cabin. He'll stay with me for every full moon. He promised to make me his one and only Luna forever!" Her voice was full of hope for the future. Her joy was a bitter reminder of what I'd lost. I listened quietly, only managing a faint smile. My reaction must have given me away. Her excited chatter died. Her gaze drifted over my shoulder, taking in the cold, empty penthouse behind me. "Wait... where's Owen?" Her smile faltered. "We're happy, right? After eight years?" I didn't say a word. I just slowly, deliberately, turned the Moonwater Mirror toward the terrace. There, my Alpha mate, Owen, had another she-wolf pinned to the railing. Their mouths were fused, their breaths mingling in the cold night air.

Late one night after getting off work, I was scrolling through my company group chat when a colleague shared a piece of news. The headline was horrifying. "Night-Shift Courier Murdered During Delivery, Police Suspect Robbery." I zoomed in on the crime scene photo that had been partially pixelated, and a chill ran straight down my spine. Lying in a pool of blood, the courier who had been hacked to death was unmistakably me. I had scrolled into news of my own death. Almost at the same time, my delivery app began vibrating violently. "Urgent pickup! Destination: Unit 704 Hawthorne Ridge Apartments, Building 7. Time limit: 15 minutes. Penalty for timeout: Death." As I stared at the notification that read "Pickup failed three times", the searing pain of my brutal death surged through my body. So that was it. I had already died three times. When I forced open the half-closed security door of 704 for the fourth time, a thin delivery envelope lay quietly inside. I tore it open. A photograph slipped out. It was a picture of my dismembered body. The timestamp showed tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. On the back was a single line written in fresh blood: "Next time, remember to pick it up on time." At that moment, the red indicator light on the hallway surveillance camera suddenly went dark. I looked up. From the ventilation opening in the exact same spot, a single eye was staring straight at me. The mole at the corner of that eye was identical to mine.

"When I set my eyes on your beauty, I become like a vampire that is staring at blood." ~~ How about loving someone with great expectations that you will end up together with him but later on find out that fate has decided otherwise for you two? That he has to be a villain and you a hero? Lavina is very depressed when this happens to her but since a heartbreak doesn't mean the end of one's life, she decides to go on with her life. A life which is a cake with problems as a cream. A life in which her father makes a decision that makes his family a public enemy, every pack member wanting them dead and death remaining the only way out one could think of. At that critical moment, she meets Byron, a lycan who shields her out of kindness risking his only asset in life, his life. "You're my mate!" Byron whispers into her ears. Geez... They are mates trapped together in a swirl of hatred and mystries from centuries circling around them. Their packs have been rivals for a millenium. Only hatred towards each other was what their mothers breastfed them. 'If you find one of them kill him' was the motto that their fathers told them to learn by heart. Is he going to be her forever shield? Or he is going to turn his back against her leaving her inbetween the fangs of enraged wolves? What if Lavina finds out that Byron is the one who killed her twinsister? Will his protection still mean anything to her?

My name is Evelyn Brown. I represent the company in the IPO bidding process. Halfway through my presentation, I notice everyone in the room staring at me with puzzled expressions. In that instant, I realize my PowerPoint slides have been swapped for a "Paid Surrogate" advertisement. The wording is utterly humiliating. "I've lived the first 20 years of my life in a poor mountain village. I'm healthy and can promise a son. My price is negotiable." I rush backstage, only to see the impoverished student my father, Eric Brown, has sponsored for years laughing uncontrollably. Leaning against my fiance, Dwayne Woodruff, Katherine Cadwell says, "Oh, Ms. Brown, don't be upset! I was just teasing you to lighten the mood. You just got back home. Don't stress yourself out so much." I grab her arm, insisting she come out and explain herself. But out of nowhere, Dwayne shoves me to the floor. "You've just returned," he says. "We only pulled a little prank on you because we didn't want you to be too tense. If you can't handle even this amount of pressure, how can you be expected to take over the company?" I can't help but scoff. Right in front of them, I send the live recording straight to my father, the CEO. Without a second thought, I dial his number. "Dad, look at what your 'star scholarship student' just pulled. Can we have her and Dwayne kicked out of the company?"

After deciding to leave Azurea and follow Clara Miller to Northwood City, I was cast out by my parents. "That girl is an orphan–what can she possibly give you? If you choose a life of hardship now, you’ll spend the rest of your life suffering! Once you walk out that door, don’t bother coming back!" I left anyway. For five years, I watched Clara rise step by step, becoming one of Northwood City’s most respected psychologists. Just as she had promised, she gave me a home. As the New Year approached, I planned to take her back to Azurea to reconcile with my parents. However, just before boarding the plane, she abandoned me again–this time for a depressed patient threatening to take his own life. She let go of my hand, her eyes full of pain. "Julian Vance… he’s just like I used to be–alone, with no one to rely on. If I don’t go, he’ll jump. I’m sorry. Just this once. I’ll catch the next flight and meet you there." Then she turned and ran toward the exit without hesitation. I stood there, staring at the two plane tickets in my hand. She had saved everyone who needed redemption. Everyone… except me. Slowly, I tore up her ticket. Then I walked alone toward the security gate and turned off my phone. What Clara did not know was this: Some journeys home, once missed, are gone forever.